NFL's top five young, homegrown duos: Cowboys superstars Micah Parsons and CeeDee Lamb at No. 1

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The middle of July brought a lavish contract extension for one of the gems of the 2022 NFL Draft class, New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner.

With a four-year, $120.4 million deal — the largest contract for a cornerback in NFL history — in hand, Gardner’s future in New York is secure. It’s also a sign of wise draft decisions made by a previous regime led by since-fired general manager Joe Douglas, but it isn’t the only one: Douglas spent another first-rounder in that same draft on receiver Garrett Wilson, who received his own four-year, $130 million extension on Monday.

In two days, New York locked up two franchise cornerstones, prompting me to ponder where else such valuable homegrown duos exist. Let’s examine the best five pairs — a list that includes the aforementioned stars in the Big Apple, but not at the very top.

CeeDee Lamb

Parsons entered the NFL from Penn State with plenty of deserved attention, but even the most avid Nittany Lions supporters likely didn’t expect him to be this good at the next level. The true transformation into a game-wrecking pass rusher occurred once the Cowboys committed to playing him on the ball, sacrificing his sideline-to-sideline range in favor of sending him on repeated quarterback hunts. Parsons has produced many highlights in four pro seasons, racking up 52.5 sacks, 63 tackles for loss, nine forced fumbles and two first-team All-Pro selections. Oh, he also won the 2021 Defensive Rookie of the Year award, finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in that same season (and the next) and hasn’t completed a year without earning a trip to the Pro Bowl. He’s due to reset the edge rusher market and remains one of the most devastating forces of nature in the NFL, a true defensive cornerstone who would be the best player on almost any unit.

Lamb has been a star since his days at Oklahoma, yet he remained available until the middle of the 2020 NFL Draft’s first round. Dallas happily scooped him up at No. 17 overall and immediately bestowed great expectations upon him by handing him the franchise’s venerated No. 88 jersey. He’s done nothing but meet those expectations, even when the circumstances surrounding him haven’t been ideal. Logically, Lamb should have suffered from the lack of a quality running mate following the Cowboys’ decision to trade Amari Cooper to Cleveland in 2022, yet it hasn’t shown in his production. He’s broken 1,100 receiving yards in each of the last four seasons, earned four straight Pro Bowl nods and landed on three All-Pro teams (two second, one first) in the last three seasons. He peaked in 2023, catching a league-leading 135 passes for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns on a Cowboys team that won the NFC East. Even though Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending injury in 2024, Lamb still finished with 101 receptions, 1,194 yards and six touchdowns. He is a superstar receiver with incredible ball-tracking and catching skills and is only just entering his prime at 26 years old. Expect nothing but more of the same from him in 2025, especially after Dallas acquired a proper WR2 in George Pickens.

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